Transparency For The Win

Brief Overview

It’s amazing how a little transparency can lead to so much more success. In this episode I share an example that made a BIG impression on me and led to a big tip for the waiter who led with transparency.

Big Ideas

[00:33] So, right now I’m traveling and I decided to order room service at the hotel where I’m staying. I wait a little bit, the room service comes up, and the waiter kindly brings the food in. He sets everything up and he hands me the bill. Now, you’ve probably experienced this before, where the hotel will automatically add on gratuity. What I found though is that oftentimes, the waiter will not tell you about the automatic gratuity. In many cases, it’s quite expensive. For instance, where I am right now it’s 18%. And so, if you don’t know that and then you go and just add another tip, you’re essentially paying somewhere upwards of 30%, 40% on a tip.

Well, in this case, after the waiter set everything up and handed me the bill, he said “Sir, I just want you to know that there is an automatic 18% gratuity that has been added to your bill, so you don’t need to add any additional gratuity if you don’t want to.” I thought about that for a second and then said, “You know what, dude, I really appreciate you being upfront about that and I appreciate you telling me in advance.” So, I actually added more gratuity because I wanted him to know that I was grateful for the fact that he was transparent and honest.

[02:06] Oftentimes in marketing, people hide their prices. I don’t know whether they hide them because they’re scared that they don’t want people to see them or that they don’t think that the product is worth the value that they’re charging. In any case, I see people hide their prices all the time. So, here’s my point in telling you all of this. The best thing that you and I can do is just be upfront with our prices. Do not hide your prices. Don’t try to trick people. Marketing is not about tricking people. It’s about being upfront. It’s about demonstrating the value. It’s about showing people what you have is going to create value in their life.

[05:17] Marketing is simply a way to communicate the value of what you have. And when it’s done in a genuine and authentic way then it naturally draws people in. This is one of the reasons why I love selling through stories. In fact, it makes selling almost easy and effortless because you never feel like you’re actually selling. All you’re doing is just telling stories of transformation, stories of people who have used what it is that you’ve got. They had a problem before, they used what you’re selling , and then they experienced some type of transformation that makes their life better.

Memorable Quote

“Marketing is simply a way to communicate the value of what you have. And when it’s done in a genuine and authentic way then it naturally draws people in.” – Stu McLaren

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